The challenge of low visibility: immigrant activism toward enfranchisement

ABSTRACT

Low visibility activism poses a challenge for scholars wishing to understand the involvement and impact of immigrant activists in political processes. While the migrant enfranchisement literature frequently credits emigrants for their active role in efforts toward the right to vote, it often ignores or dismisses the parallel role of immigrants. I revisit Switzerland as one of the most widely studied cases of immigrant enfranchisement to analyse the cantonal case studies of Geneva and Zurich. The results show that immigrants were actively involved in various ways, and at points, their activism proved to be essential. However, their contributions were often not publicly visible due to strategic choices made by immigrant activists and institutional barriers that limited their participation. This low visibility presents a challenge for scholars studying enfranchisement processes because the official paper trail may fail to reflect immigrant activism. By comparing parliamentary debates with interview as well as archival evidence, I demonstrate that only the latter two provide glimpses into immigrant contributions to their own enfranchisement. I conclude with a call to engage deeply with sources beyond the official paper trail when reaching conclusions about the extent and impact of immigrant involvement in political processes.

KEYWORDS:

• enfranchisement
• immigrant activism
• voting rights
• Switzerland
• noncitizen voting

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Raquel Chanto, Lee Ann Banaszak, Vicki Finn, Régis Dandoy, and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, as well as to Sebastián Umpierrez de Reguero for his encouragement. I thank my interviewees and the archivists for being generous with their time. This research was supported by the nccr – on the move funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation grant 51NF40-182897.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Research ethics

This research received prior ethics clearance from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. The relevant approval references are SSH_DPIR_C1A_19_034 and SSH_DPIR_C1A_21_010.

Notes

1 IG Metall Vorstand, CD: Aus Gastarbeitern wurden Kolleginnen und Kollegen, 2014.

2 In my case studies, I did not trace the internal workings of unions concerning voting rights. However, this would be a natural extension of this project.

3 SGB-Pressedienst, Kongress der Colonie libere italiane: Für ein gleichberechtigtes Zusammenleben, 31/01/1985, wf-Archiv II, 2195-2191, AZ.

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6 Tagung der SP Kanton Zürich, 21/11/1987, Referat: Zusammenarbeit von AusländerInnen und SP in Uster, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

7 Roger Ziegenhagen, Initiative für Ausländerstimmrecht in Uster, PIAZZA 4.13, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

8 SP Kanton Zürich, Parteivorstand, 11/11/1986, Ar-27-100-57, SSA.

9 Marina Smaldini, Ausländer fordern Stimm- und Wahlrecht in der Gemeinde, Tages-Anzeiger, 29/04/1987, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

10 Letter by the SP Uster to the cantonal SP, 26/01/1987, Ar-27-950-9, SSA.

11 Press release, Initiativkomitee, 08/03/1991, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

12 Internal minutes, Initiativkomitee, 08/03/1991, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

13 NZZ, Die Inhalte zum 1. Mai, 19/04/2000, NZZ Online Archive.

14 CCSI, Rapport d’Activité 1989-1990, AP-404, boîte 41, AEG.

15 Ibid.

16 CCSI, Comité unitaire contre la xénophobie, 15/12/1988, folder: affaires courantes 2., PEG.

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21 Unidentified newspaper clipping, Position espagnole, 092-CCSI-S05-SS02, folder 2, AC.

22 Le Courrier, Lancement de la campagne pour les droits politiques des étrangers, 20/01/2001, 082-CCSI-S05-SS03, AC.

23 Personal website by Antonio Hodgers, 09/2021, https://web.archive.org/web/20210930194029/https://www.hodgers.ch/.

24 At the time of writing, he is one of seven Conseillers d’État (the cantonal executive) in Geneva.

25 Online interview, 09/2021.

26 Letter by JVJV to political parties, 19/05/2003, folder: Correspondance diverses: envoyée et reçue 2002-2003, PEG.

27 Letters by various organisations, folder: Presidence et comité directeur 2005, PDC.

28 Interview with a leading party member, 01/2020.

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30 Pressemitteilung, Bundesrat hebt Rednerbeschluss auf, 09/03/1998, Confoederatio Helvetica.

31 Secrétariat du Grand Conseil, Question Écrite Q 3382, 17/01/1991, 082-CCSI-S05-SS02, AC.

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33 Koordinationsgruppe Stimm- und Wahlrecht für Ausländer/innen, 12/12/1988, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

34 Initiativkomitee, Minutes, 31/03/1993, Ar-27-700-56, SSA.

35 Comité unitaire pour les droits politiques des étrangers, 25/10/2000, 082-CCSI-S05-SS03, AC.

36 Comité unitaire pour les droits politiques des étrangers, 09/02/2000, yellow folder: droit politiques, PdT.

37 VO Réalités, Le droit de vote aux immigrés doit être acquis et non octroyé, 27/09/1990, PdT.

38 Press release, Volksinitiative für mehr Demokratie wird breit unterstützt, 12/09/2013, provided by an interviewee.

39 Press release, Chance auf mehr Demokratie und mehr Teilhabe verpasst, 22/09/2013, provided by an interviewee.

40 Press release, Die Zeit ist reif, mehr Demokratie zu wagen!, 30/07/2013, provided by an interviewee.

41 Kantonsratsprotokoll, StAZH-MM-24.136-KRP-1993/107/0006, 19/04/1993, KZS.

42 Grand Conseil de Genève, 12/03/1993, Grand Conseil Mémorial.

43 The full catalogue is accessible on site.

44 Bestand Bülent T., Korrespondenz der Ruhr Initiative für das Internationale Jahr des Friedens 1986-1988, E-1340-0066; und Entwürfe der Ruhr Initiative Gelsenkirchen, E 1340-0090, DOMiD.